TheActOfFalling
by Claces.herondales
Summary: Clary Morgenstern’s life is controlled by her father, but when a certain golden boy comes along, she gains the courage to go against her fathers wishes, and fall in love with the boy he despises.


So, this is my first (published) fanfiction. There is probably going to be a large amount of grammatical errors throughout this story and some of the characters may seem OOC but hopefully not too much. Anyway, please be nice (although constructive criticism is welcome).

WARNING: This story will contain mature themes throughout and may affect some people. If there are any triggering themes in any of the chapters they will be announced at the beginning of the chapter.

ENJOY! x

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Chapter 1

All she sees is gold

Sebastian Verlac: the 'perfect man'. Perfectly straight silver hair, a perfectly charming smile; dark, mysterious eyes, a perfectly sculpted and angelic face and that was without his deceivingly kind personality or his status as a rich and well respected gentleman.

Clarissa Morgenstern had been given all of these details and more, ever since it was announced that she was to be married to this stranger. And even though she had never met him, she already knew that she despised him and the situation that they had been put in.

But as she sat, by his side, stiff as a board as his hand ran dangerously high up her thigh, she put on her fake, cheery smile (as she'd been taught) and allowed her father to converse with her 'fiancé' about his plans for their marriage. And in that moment she wanted nothing more than from the ground to open up beneath her and swallow her whole.

"That settles it then! You and Princess Clarissa are to be married in early July!" Valentine exclaimed, gesturing Maia over to fill each of their glasses with a bottle of his finest champagne.

Her father had always had control over her, especially since her mother had left them. Every time she tried to fight back she'd be punished, and now it had gotten to the point where she could no longer fight back at all without serious consequences (that she would much prefer not to face). The king got what the king wanted. And right now, he wanted another heir.

Maia finished pouring out each drink and immediately backed off, curtsying to Valentine before scuttling out of the room.

Sebastian smiled to himself as he watched the servant with power hungry eyes, and then he turned to Clary and lifted his glass. "To my future wife," his eyes darkened with lust as that 'perfect' smile spread across his perfect face, sickening her.

Clary kept her emerald eyes on the floor as Sebastian and Valentine continued to discuss their future plans, Sebastian's wandering hand causing her to jump from time to time.

Thankfully, a loud knock at the door interrupted Sebastian and Valentine's sickening conversation and her brother, Jonathan, entered. He had a proud smirk on his face along with splatters of blood and an ugly, purple bruise directly underneath his left eye.

"I found it father!" Jonathan said and Clary thought for a moment he was going to present some sort of animal that he'd killed, but as he stepped away from the doorway, he revealed a young boy of around Clary's age.

He was injured; blood soaking his untucked, white shirt and bruises covering his face, yet he was still breathtakingly handsome. His golden eyes were blazing with determination and hatred; his golden curls, that were matted with mud, fell perfectly against his honey skin. He was all gold, and the most beautiful boy Clary had ever seen.

"Ah! Young Jonathan! Perfect timing," Valentine jumped from his seat, sauntering over to the boy and taking his chin between his fingers, examining him as though he were an animal for sale at the market. This act seemed to increase the boy's anger as he emitted a low growl, his amber eyes darkening dangerously.

"It's Jace," he growled, and in that moment he reminded Clary of a lion: a lion readying to pounce on its prey. "And I do not answer to you. Valentine Morgenstern." Clary shivered at the loathing in his voice as he spat her father's name, speaking to her father in a way no one had ever been able to.

"I always knew you Herondales were pathetic scumbags, that is why you are mine now. You will obey me and be a better man than your ridiculous excuse for a father!" Valentine said in a cool and calm tone. But a crooked smirk spread across Jace's face as he chuckled under his breath, and Clary could see that this boy was asking... no, begging for a fight.

Valentine grabbed Jace by his suspenders, pulling him so that their eyes were staring into one another's: light against dark. And then as Jace whispered something into his ear, Clary saw Valentine's eyes blaze up with a terrifying anger and all of a sudden Jace was on the floor, Valentine's heavy boot weighing down on his wrist.

"You want me to bend, well you can die trying." Jace said stubbornly, his face straight and serious even when Valentine let out a maniacal laugh.

"I shall have fun with you, Herondale. Your father died way too quickly, and your darling mother... poor Celine..." Valentine trailed off, his black eyes bearing into Jace's golden ones.

Clary sat frozen in her chair, she wanted to help Jace, to protect him. She didn't even know this boy, but there was something about him that felt so... vulnerable. She felt a need to keep him safe.

She was finally broken from her thoughts by a pained cry and saw that her father had snapped Jace's left wrist and was now moving on to his right, and that is when she finally managed to break through the fear that had been building up inside of her all of these years, "Leave him alone!" She screamed, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Especially Jace.

His golden eyes were looking into hers, pleading with her to stop, and she realised he was trying to protect her... but she didn't need protection, not anymore. "Don't you think you've done enough? Just leave him." She said, a little quieter than before, suddenly feeling a little less courageous as she felt her father's eyes on her.

"Clary! He's the enemy, he deserves this!" Jonathan said with a sick smile on his face as he watched Jace writhe around in pain in the floor. "Also, we brought him here for you. He's your new servant, unless you don't want him?" Jonathan questioned but clary ignored him, her eyes were stuck on the gorgeous boy on the ground.

"No, I want him. I need a new servant, he looks handy."

"I often get told I'm good with my hands," Jace piped up, winking at Clary as he cradled his wrist. "Your father may have damaged that though, but I'm good in other sectors too." He said with a crooked smile and Clary couldn't tell if he was joking or being completely serious, his face seemed to constantly hold the same amused expression.

"She is to be married, you will not make my daughter out to be a whore!" Valentine slapped him once more and then pulled him up to his feet, "Do with him as you please Clarissa, but do not damage the Morgenstern name."

And with that Sebastian stood up, pulling clary up with him. He moved over to Jace and guided him out of the door and down the corridors of the castle. And despite everything that was looming over her, all she could see was gold.

•••

Okay, so that's the first chapter out of the way. As you may be able to tell, this will mostly be an angsty fanfiction, though it will have its cute and happy moments.

Also, this story doesn't have an updating schedule so far, I'm just going to update whenever I have the time to or when I'm particularly in the mood to delve deeper into this story, so don't expect regular updates!

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you like it so far! x


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